Cover for toilet bowl to prevent soiling

ABSTRACT

A toilet bowl protector for preventing soiling of a toilet bowl includes a rim having an opening, the rim being adapted to be received around a rim of a toilet bowl, and a shell portion, the shell portion extending from the rim, the shell portion being adapted to be disposed within a bowl of the toilet bowl to prevent soiling of the bowl.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a cover for a commode to preventthe soiling thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates toa cover disposed about the rim and within the bowl of a commode toprevent the soiling of the bowl.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Public health concerns have resulted in many public toiletfacilities in restaurants, shopping centers, businesses, and othersimilar places to provide tissue toilet seat covers. These tissue seatcovers generally consist of a sheet of paper with a partially cut-outcenter section. When placed in use, the center section must be torn awayor partially separated from the rest of the cover and the cover is thenplaced on the toilet seat. Conventional paper covers are inadequate in anumber of respects in that they are often flimsy and will easily tear,interfering with their intended use. Also, since these prior art coversare simply placed over the seat, they are easily displaced and may slipfrom the toilet seat during use. Additionally, conventional covers leavethe bowl exposed, therefore allowing the bowl to become soiled, and thusrequiring frequent cleaning.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,185 to Kohler teaches a toilet bowl protectorwhich is disposed about the rim of the toilet bowl underneath the seatand forming a skirt around the toiled bowl to contain urine. The toiletbowl protector of Kohler does not teach providing a protector that isdisposed within the bowl to prevent soiling thereof.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,237 to Hazar et al. provides a disposablesanitary protector cover for a toilet. As shown in Hazar et al., theprotector is disposed about the seat of the toiled and does not extenddown into the bowl of the toiled to prevent soiling of the bowl.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,360 to Levin illustrates yet another toiletbowl protector. As shown in Levin the toilet bowl protector is disposedabout the seat of the toilet and does not extend into the bowl toprevent the soiling of the bowl.

[0006] Therefore there is a need for a toilet bowl cover that willprevent the soiling of the bowl such that the bowl will remain cleanafter use.

[0007] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a toiletbowl protector for preventing soiling of a toilet bowl includes a rimhaving an opening, the rim being adapted to be received around a rim ofa toilet bowl, and a shell portion, the shell portion extending from therim, the shell portion being adapted to be disposed within a bowl of thetoilet bowl to prevent soiling of the bowl.

[0008] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, atoilet bowl protector for preventing soiling of a toilet bowl includes arim, the rim having a first and second surface, the first surface beingadapted to be disposed in contact with a rim of a toilet bowl and thesecond surface being adapted to be disposed in contact with and beneatha toilet seat, the rim defining an opening corresponding to a shape ofthe bowl of the toilet bowl. The toilet bowl protector also includes ashell extending from the rim and defining a bowl-shaped member adaptedto be disposed within the bowl of the toilet bowl.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Referring now to the Figures wherein like numbers have beenutilized to denote the same or similar elements, there is shown:

[0010]FIG. 1. is an isometric plan view of a toilet bowl cover accordingto the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2. is a cross-sectional side view of the toilet bowl covertaken at section 2-2 of FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3. is an isometric plan view of the present invention asdisposed within a toilet bowl;

[0013]FIG. 4. is another embodiment of the toilet bowl protectoraccording to the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 5. is a cross-sectional side view of the alternativeembodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 6 is an isometric plan view of a rectangular or square coveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] A toilet bowl protector according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is provided to prevent soiling of a toilet bowl. The toiletbowl protector preferably comprises a round, oval, square, orrectangular shaped sheet, the sheet further including a depressed regionformed therein. The protector according to the present inventionprovides a shield or cover disposed about the bowl of a toiled toprevent soiling to facilitate maintaining the toilet bowl in a clean andhygienic condition.

[0017] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an exemplary embodimentof the toilet bowl protector according to the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 1, the protector 100 comprises a rim 120 and a shell 130.As shown in FIG. 3, the rim 120 is sufficiently sized to disposed aboutthe rim of the bowl of a toilet, and the shell 130 is adapted to bedisposed within the bowl of the toilet. Referring now to FIG. 2, thereis shown a cross-sectional side view of the toilet bowl protectoraccording to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the shell 130 ofthe protector 100 extends from the rim 120. Additionally, the shell 130is offset from the edge of the rim 120 thereby forming flange 110. Theflange 110 is adapted to be disposed around the rim or edge of the bowlof the toilet bowl as shown in FIG. 3.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, the toilet bowl protector 100 is adapted tobe disposed within the entire bowl of a toilet 50 as shown. The shell130 protects the bowl from becoming soiled. In use, the seat isinitially disposed substantially perpendicular to the floor, the toiletbowl protector is then placed around and within the bowl of the toilet,wherein the shell lines the bowl and the rim 120 defined by the flange110 is placed upon the rim of the toilet bowl. The seat is then lowed toan approximately horizontal position, wherein the seat retains theprotector within the position as shown in FIG. 3. After use, theprotector may be disposed of by raising the seat before flushing thetoilet, so that the action of the water flowing down the drain afterflushing pulls the protector into the bowl and down the drain. It may,preferably, be unnecessary to raise the seat prior to flushing in thatthe action of the water flowing into the drain may be sufficient to drawthe protector into the bowl and down the drain therewith, although thismay depend upon factors such as the type of material used to form theprotector and the rate of water flow in the toilet.

[0019] Referring now to FIG. 4 another embodiment of a toilet bowlprotector 200 in accordance with the present invention is shown. Thetoilet bowl protector 200 comprises a discontinuous rim 220 and a shellportion 230 depending therefrom. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rim 220is discontinuous as compared with the continuous rim 120 shown inFIG. 1. The toilet bowl protector 200 is generally u-shaped when viewedfrom the front. As with the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, theshell 230 depends from the lower portion of the rim 220 and is adaptedto be received within the bowl of the toilet to provide protectionagainst soiling.

[0020] Each of the embodiments shown herein may be fabricated in themanner and of the materials to be described below. As shown, the toiletbowl protector may be fabricated from a paper material, wherein thepaper material has sufficient thickness to resist tearing but issufficiently thin to allow the protector to be flushed into the sewersystem or retaining tank. It is also preferred that the materialutilized to fabricate the protectors herein is a non-absorbent material,thus when the shell portion is disposed within the bowl the water withinthe bowl will not immediately dissolve or break down the protector.Alternatively, the rim may be constructed of a material such as thatdescribed above, while the shell portion may be formed of an absorbentmaterial wherein the two separate components would then be assembled toform the protector as shown.

[0021] The rim and shell may be integrally formed as a unitary unit oralternatively may be formed of multiple pieces which may then beassembled to form a single unit as shown. Additionally, as shown, theprotector may be formed without having a formed rim.

[0022] Although the present invention is shown embodied in the form of acircle or partial circle or oval, it shall be understood that thepresent invention may be formed having any shape such as circles,squares, rectangles (FIG. 6), ovals or other possible shapes of commode.It is further contemplated that the present invention may be utilizedwith a conventionally available seat cover. That is the presentinvention may be disposed within the bowl to maintain sanitary andhygienic conditions therein, while the conventional seat cover may beplaced over the seat to provide sanitary and hygienic conditions.

[0023] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in the foregoing detailed description and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, it shall be understood that the invention is notlimited to the embodiments disclosed herein but is capable of numerousmodifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to encompasssuch modifications and substitution of parts or elements as fall withinthe scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A toilet bowl protector for preventing soiling of a toiletbowl, comprising: a rim having an opening, the rim being adapted to bereceived around a rim of a toilet bowl; a shell portion, the shellportion extending from the rim, the shell portion being adapted to bedisposed within a bowl of the toilet bowl to prevent soiling of thebowl.
 2. The toiled bowl protector according to claim 1, wherein theshell defines a continuous surface disposed within the annular openingof the rim.
 3. The toilet bowl protector according to claim 2, whereinthe rim and shell are unitary.
 4. The toilet bowl protector according toclaim 2, wherein the rim and shell are constructed of multiple pieceswhich are assembled to form a unitary structure.
 5. The toilet bowlprotector according to claim 2, wherein the rim and shell areconstructed of a non-absorbent paper.
 6. The toilet bowl protectoraccording to claim 2, wherein the rim is constructed of a non-absorbentpaper and the shell is formed of an absorbent paper.
 7. The toilet bowlprotector according to claim 1, wherein the rim is continuous.
 8. Thetoilet bowl protector according to claim 7, where the shell iscontinuous.
 9. The toilet bowl protector according to claim 1, whereinthe rim and the shell together, when viewed in cross-section, aregenerally u-shaped.
 10. The toilet bowl protector according to claim 1,wherein the rimn is generally square shaped.
 11. The toilet bowlprotector according to claim 1, wherein the rim is generally rectangularshaped.
 12. The toilet bowl protector according to claim 1, wherein therim is generally oval shaped.
 13. A toilet bowl protector for preventingsoiling of a toilet bowl, comprising: a rim, the rim having a first andsecond surface, the first surface being adapted to be disposed incontact with a rim of a toilet bowl and the second surface being adaptedto be disposed in contact with and beneath a toilet seat, the rimdefining an opening corresponding to a shape of the bowl of the toiletbowl; and a shell extending from the rim and defining a bowl-shapedmember adapted to be disposed within the bowl of the toilet bowl. 14.The toilet bowl protector according to claim 13, wherein the rim and theshell are manufactured from tissue paper.
 15. The toilet bowl protectoraccording to claim 14, wherein the shell is constructed of waterabsorbent tissue paper.
 16. The toilet bowl protector according to claim15, wherein the rim is constructed of water resistant tissue paper. 17.The toilet bowl protector according to claim 13, wherein the rim andshell are constructed of multiple pieces which are assembled to form aunitary body.
 18. The toilet bowl protector according to claim 13,wherein the rim and shell are constructed as a unitary body.
 19. Thetoilet bowl protector according to claim 13, wherein the rim and theshell is generally u-shaped when viewed in cross-section.
 20. The toiletbowl protector according to claim 13, wherein the rim and shell are ashape chosen from the group consisting of square, rectangle, oval, andround.